I just started and I'm so lost - Help!

Okay hey, so I picked up this game and even though I still don't have a real grasp on the game, I love it! I've been playing the last few days and so far I have archer at level 30. Few questions though!

What do I do to level up other jobs when there are no more quests? I'm going through the main story quest and basically doing every quest I can, as well as the Guildhest/Dungeons as they become active. Once I hit 50 with archer those quests aren't going to be there anymore I'm assuming.. So would I have to level a separate job/class through the levequests, fates and the like?

Also, how do I use the Auction House? I know that they are used through the market board things but I can't figure out for the life of me how to put up something to sell, is there an auctioneer type character I need to talk to or is it a different process?

I'm completely new to the final fantasy franchise too, even being a 7 year WoW vet this game is like a brand new experience for me!

For leveling other classes you can use hunting log (every class gets separate hunting log), guildleves and fates before level 15, after you reach 15, you can do dungeons. Starting from level 10 you can also do guildhests, they give a large amount of experience once for each class. Do not forget to do low level roulette, as it also gives a lot of experience.

To be able to use Market Board, you have to unlock them through the story quests. If you are already at level 30 story quests, you have unlocked them already. Talk to a retainer vocate at the market in any of city states and hire a retainer. You can hire two free retainers and also can purchase up to two more retainers as a paid service. Use summoning bell in the markets or inn rooms to call your retainer. Retainer can sell your items on MB and is also a big storage space. Gil from sales is stored on retainer.

Also, since you are already level 30, do not forget to get your job by talking to your class guildmaster!

Welcome to Eorzea! :D

Firstly, you are correct in that normal story quests/side quests are 'once-only' - once it's completed, you can't do it again. However, don't despair, as there are other alternatives to sidequests for levelling:

Levequests (which are repeatable as long as you have enough allowances which recharge every six hours)
FATEs (still the easiest really, as you can do as many as you like and come and go from them at will)
Dungeons (if you do them via the Duty Roulette you can get a bonus to exp and gil once a day)
Hunting Log (each class has it's own log unlocked automatically upon completing it's first class quest for it's guild)
Challenge Log (requires a quest to be completed to be unlocked - this is kind of like a cross between achievements and the Hunting Log. Completing various objectives, such as, complete x number of levequests from five different areas, or gain the highest rank in a FATE x number of times, will give you large amounts of gil and exp. This resets once a week on a Tuesday)
Beastmen 'daily' quests (unlockable after around level 40, each beastman tribe has a 'friendly' faction who will have three quests each day for you to do - you're restricted to only being able to do three per tribe for a maximum of six per day, but they too reset each day at Japanese midnight. Npcs with beastmen quests can be determined by the speech bubble icon with a 'recycling' symbol)

Additionally, there is an added effect you're given if you're levelling a class lower than your first in that you're given a bonus to exp gained after battle for any class that has a lower level than your first (so for instance, your current class is ARC 28, all other classes will gain an exp bonus up to level 28). Not to mention logging out in a 'sanctuary' (either of the three cities, or a hamlet which has an aetheryte) will also grant you a 'rested exp bonus' on top of that. I found levelling was far easier with later classes than it was the first time, mostly due to this exp bonus.

Secondly, there is actually no true 'Auction House' in FFXIV. Instead, we have what is called the 'Market Board'. This is basically just a list of player retainers who are virtually personal shops. When you purchase an item on the Market Board you're buying that item from a player directly and not actually bidding on it. To sell items yourself you first have to hire a retainer from a special npc in the Market area of each city - this npc has the title 'Retainer Vocate' under their name. They're shown on the map as an icon with two heads. When you hire a retainer, that person becomes not only a shop front on the Market Board for you, they also give you extra storage space for items (this is completely seperate from the Market). To use a retainer after hiring, simply look for a 'summoning bell' in various places (one is in your inn room for instance). By default, you can have up to two retainers, but you can purchase more for real money from the Mogstation, although personally I find having two is enough.

Anyway, hopefully that hasn't been too confusing for you! :D FFXIV is full of references to past FF games so if you';re interested in all the in-jokes, lore and references, the FF Wiki is a good place to get up to speed. :)

You were right on both counts, needing to make do without quests once you've cleared them, and needing an npc to sell things. Monsters in dungeons give decent exp; you will end up playing each dungeon many times over... and you still have bonuses from challenge log (unlocked in limsa lominsa), hunting log, roulette, FATEs... I guess that's about it.

thanks for the replies guys, helps out a bunch!

so is the general strategy focus on one class to 50 first and then start working on others? so like, should I even bother going into a different guild to get access to a new class yet, or only when I get archer to 50?

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Originally Posted by Foghorn755

so is the general strategy focus on one class to 50 first and then start working on others? so like, should I even bother going into a different guild to get access to a new class yet, or only when I get archer to 50?

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You'll need to take at least one detour to level another class to level 15. Jobs unlock at level 30, and each one requires a second class at level 15. For example, to unlock Bard from Archer at level 30, you need to take Pugilist to 15. Class Q&A Guide lists those, along with some other good info.

And you definitely want to unlock the job at 30. Taking up the job instead of the base class gives you a large boost to your main stat (DEX for BRD), and gives very useful abilities for party play every 5 levels.

There's also a second class that each job can take cross-class skills from, besides the one needed for the unlock. For example, Bard can take skills from both Pugilist and Lancer. It might be worth your time to collect some of the other cross-class skills before 50 as well. And when you get to level 50, you'll definitely want your full range of possible cross-class skills before you start getting into more difficult content.

Beyond that, it's really up to you whether you take one all the way to 50 before you work on the others. Contrary to what the in-game help tells you, you get the same 50% XP bonus on lower-level classes regardless of differences in level; as long as you're working on something that is lower than your highest level, you will get that 50% XP bonus across the board. For example, if your highest level is 28 ARC, both your level 1 ACN and your level 27 LNC will get the same bonus.

Getting to level 50 can make several other things easier; unlocking all the travel options, making gil to gear up other jobs, etc. But it's not such a vast difference that you'd look back on your life ten years from now and wonder why you ever allowed yourself to get sidetracked into leveling other jobs. Whatever floats your boat.

Regardless, there's no harm in at least unlocking any/all of the other classes at the guilds while you're there. You don't lose anything (except a little armory chest space for the starting weapons, more for armor and such if you actually start leveling them), and the only thing that's irreversible is the fact that they're unlocked (and leveled if you start leveling them).

okay i gotcha, so what should I do for armor then? basically i've been just using armor from the quests to level up archery, but seeing as that won't be an option if I go up with another class, what would I do in that situation.. dungeon armor I'm guessing?

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Originally Posted by Foghorn755

okay i gotcha, so what should I do for armor then? basically i've been just using armor from the quests to level up archery, but seeing as that won't be an option if I go up with another class, what would I do in that situation.. dungeon armor I'm guessing?

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There are lots of options for grabbing armor. Vendors, the market boards, dungeons, your Grand Company, stuff you've saved from leveling archer (if you're leveling another non-tank Disciple of War; at low levels, it's all the same and interchangeable enough to reuse), rewards from levequests, rewards from other quests if you don't use every single one in the whole world up. The vendors in the starting cities have stuff for the beginning levels, and most aetheryte camps have a vendor that sells armor and weapons for around that camp's level (with a focus on gear for the classes near their cities before 35ish).

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Originally Posted by Foghorn755

okay i gotcha, so what should I do for armor then? basically i've been just using armor from the quests to level up archery, but seeing as that won't be an option if I go up with another class, what would I do in that situation.. dungeon armor I'm guessing?

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Crafting. Just saying...
The armor you get from quests is what you can buy from the normal vendors and is the lowest level of armor. You don't want to rely on that anyway. High quality crafted, aetherial (from leves/dungeons), and green dungeon drops are all better for the same level.

so when I'm starting out on a new class, I should just buy something from vendors till I can get into dungeons and then start getting armor from there?

A bit of both really. Also as you do your class quests you should be rewarded with new gear equippable by that class too - in fact, some of the early class quests have unique gear that you can't get anywhere else (Custom Robe of Healing for CNJ, Custom Cuirass for GLA etc).

Levequests also reward gear as well - in particular, during a leve there is a chance you may come across a treasure chest which will often have a piece of 'pink' aetherial gear inside, which have unique stats and can be better than the equivalent gear you can buy from a shop at that stage. But yes, later in the game dungeon gear is usually better than crafted gear or gear bought from stores.

Did you keep your starting Hyur gear? If not, you can grab a new set from any of the vendors listed here (yeah, it's a Lalafell shirt, but they all sell all the racial gear), so at least you're not naked.

Personally, I wear that stuff all the way up to level 10 (since I solo that far and I just can't be bothered), sometimes all the way to 15, mixing in whatever I happen to have left over from other classes and/or whatever I happen to pick up from quests. When it's dungeon time, I'll find a vendor and upgrade anything that isn't level 15ish. From there on, it's whatever dungeon drops I get, and vendor upgrades for any slots that fall behind by 5ish levels.

okay i just now actually hit 30 for Archer.. would you guys advise I get 15 on Pugilist so I could unlock bard or just keep going to 50?

Definitely pick up pugilist for bard... Ya get a nice stat boost and it'll give you access to your job quests (which unlock job abilities) along the way. Plus, I find that learning when and where it's optimal to use your songs and such is best done while leveling.

so what happens when i hit 15 for Pugilist? do I start as a level 1 bard or does it take one of the levels from the other 2 classes needed for it?

im 12 as Pug right now and i gotta say its kinda hard getting exp to level up outside of the hunting log and levequests

When you hit 15 pugilist go back to the archer guild. There will be a quest there to go to south shroud and pick up bard.

Your archer level and bard level are the same. Bard is basically an add-on to archer. So you will 'start' as a lvl 30 bard and any xp you earn as bard counts for archer.

You can also get gear from leves. You can obtain gear from both the completion reward and in random coffers you find while the leve is active.

okay i got it! so as i level up bard i inherently level up archer... so each "job" has a main skill and a sub skill (main - archer sub - pugilist for bard at least)

so to unlock access to every dungeon/guildhest/trial its all done through the main story quest I'm guessing, and not by level?

Right about the leveling. Each job is a piece of equipment (soul crystal) that you wear on its base class. When you are a bard, you are a level X archer wearing a bard soul stone. You don't technically level Bard, you just level Archer (edit: which happens regardless of whether you currently have the Bard soul crystal equipped or not).

Each job also has two classes that it can pull cross-class skills from. For Bard, that's Pugilist and Lancer. For each job, one of those two classes is also required to be at 15 to open up the quest that gets you the soul crystal (Pugilist for Bard).

In the end, once you've unlocked the job, the "sub" classes are nothing more than cross-class skills. You don't adapt anything else from Pugilist or Lancer game play, you don't get stats or anything from them. Just cross-class skills.

Not everything opens up through the main story. Here's a nice list of when and how all sorts of features (including dungeons and trials) get unlocked. Guildhests are a little unique in that once you unlock Guildhests at all, they all just unlock by level (2 hests every 5 levels up until 40).

okay, so basically I level my main class/job (bard in this case) through the story quests and side quests or whatever, and then any other class I'm basically forced to level through Leves FATEs and dungeons?

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Originally Posted by Foghorn755

okay, so basically I level my main class/job (bard in this case) through the story quests and side quests or whatever, and then any other class I'm basically forced to level through Leves FATEs and dungeons?

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One popular method is to only do the main story on the first job, leave all the side quests for future jobs. But you've also got hunting logs, guildhests, levequests, dungeons, fates, beast tribe daily quests (when you get to that level), roulettes (still dungeons/guildhests, but the XP bonuses are huge), and the challenge log to build up other classes.

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Originally Posted by Foghorn755

okay, so basically I level my main class/job (bard in this case) through the story quests and side quests or whatever, and then any other class I'm basically forced to level through Leves FATEs and dungeons?

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I have to say, the secondary classes are often easier to level than your main. The EXP bonuses help out immensely.
That being said; Leves are a great way for fast XP, Dungeons give XP and loot, Fates give you grand company standing.

It sounds like a few options but if you keep into account how many fates there are and how fast they pop up, it's suddenly a whole other ballgame.
Also keep in mind when you are a healing or tank class finding dungeon groups is ridiculously easy.
I personally missed quite a few side quests which I'm planning on doing on one of my other classes. Often if you go to other main Area's (Thanalan, Gridania, La Noscea) you'll find quite a few more quests ;)

you guys have been a serious help so far lol, i really appreciate it!

next up, when I look at armor in my armor chest theres a little colored circle on the top right, usually like red, yellow, brown, purple, etc.. what do those represent?

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Originally Posted by Foghorn755

you guys have been a serious help so far lol, i really appreciate it!

next up, when I look at armor in my armor chest theres a little colored circle on the top right, usually like red, yellow, brown, purple, etc.. what do those represent?

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The color the gear is currently dyed (or a grayish color if it can be dyed but isn't currently). Gear that can't be dyed doesn't have that circle.

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Originally Posted by Foghorn755

you guys have been a serious help so far lol, i really appreciate it!

next up, when I look at armor in my armor chest theres a little colored circle on the top right, usually like red, yellow, brown, purple, etc.. what do those represent?

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To predict a future question, if you are examining other people you may notice some equipment with a little "+" in the upper right. This means the equipment has been glamoured to appear different. I think the color of the "+" indicates the color used in the image, so it replaces the circle.
You will get the ability to glamour your clothes after level 50.

Another common question is about the number in the upper right of the character portrait. I'm not seeing it in this thread though. That number is your average item level of your equipment. Add up the item level of everything you are wearing and divide by 13 - that is the average item level. (2 handed weapons count double). Your average item level will lag behind your character level until you reach 50. Then you will start seeing requirements on dungeons like "average item level 70". The average item level is abbreviated "ilvl".

Once you pick up more classes (assuming you do) you will also get the ability to save your clothing sets. This is very helpful. You can even then drag the clothing set to a hotbar for easy switching. Just remember to re-save it when you update your gear. The controls for this are above the character portrait.
Your main weapon is what determines your current class. So when you pick up a second class simply changing your weapon will change your class. Any equipment you can't wear for the current class will be returned to your armory. This is why it is very helpful to save the clothing set for each class - that way when switching from your level 30 archer to your level 5 pugilist and back you don't have to go through your equipment every time. If there isn't enough space in your armory you will be prevented from changing classes.

Also want to mention that you can get an extra 3% exp boost for 30min for eating meals. You can buy really cheap food at the main city market alleys for 12gil or less:

http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Tree_Toad_Legs

When you combine this with dungeon roulette and fate farming while you wait for your dungeon queue, you can really stack up exp fast.

okay cool guys, thanks for the tips! i just hit 40 on Bard so i'm making pretty good progress i guess. once I hit 50 or when I'm close ill probably start to ask about end-game content... I want to think that XIV has an end-game similar to WoW but I'm not gonna make any assumptions!

basically I've just been doing the story quest and ignoring all the quests in the cities so I can use them on other classes.. but doing the hunting/challenge logs and FATEs is definitely a really good way to get EXP, one thing though is the sightseeing log, what is that?


okay wow I'm actually not a high enough level to get through this wing of the story hahaha, guess i need to go back and do those quests

I'll keep an eye out for you and send you a friend request, I'm on the same server so if you need anything I can help out.

okay cool, thanks :)

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Originally Posted by Foghorn755

one thing though is the sightseeing log, what is that?

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The sightseeing log is totally optional and only nets you a minion if you do all 80.

got it! is there a way to automatically compare stats on gear? like, instead of having to look at both sets individually is there a way for it to tell me what stats are better/worse than my currently equipped. i know it does for armor, unless I'm misinterpreting it, but is that a feature yet or no?

No, it's not. SE has mentioned looking into making a change for that, but that was patches and patches and patches ago, and there's been nothing since.

Hey I just hit 50, what should I do now?

first thing I'm gonna do is finish the main story, i also basically finished my bard quest line, and at some point i wanna get lancer up to get the abilities from that... but like, nows the time to ask!

how do dungeons work? are there like hard mode dungeons or heroics?

Basically, yes, finish the main storyline! Doing so unlocks end game stuff - a lot of players feel that the 'real' game only starts at 50 and upon completion of the 2.0 story, so it is definitely worth going and finishing! (Plus you get your own magitek armour mount!).

As for what you can do after, this is a good list of everything currently available (far, far too much to write here - scroll to the bottom to level 50): http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Gu...Locked_Content